Inbox/Outbox: February 12, 2016

I’m a tropical weather gal which means as soon as it drops below 70 degrees I’m thegrumpy person who looks dressed for a blizzard. Being that it’s been in the 50s recently I’ve been heavily relying on books, hot chocolate, and churros–for dipping in the hot chocolate, of course–to get me through. While I may be Joey Tribbiani when it comes to sharing food I am the opposite about books and am super excited to share the books currently in my life.

Inbox (Books Acquired)

The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates– This was an easy buying choice since Between The World and Me was one of my top 2015 reads and I’ve been looking for more non-celebrity memoirs. I went with the audiobook because I’ve recently realized I prefer non-fiction to go through my earholes and it’s time to plant new things in my garden.

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (Amistad, August 9)– As soon as I finished Brown Girl Dreaming I turned right back to the first page and started it again, so I could not be more thrilled that I got my hands on Jacqueline Woodson’s upcoming novel. I don’t even plan on reading the summary, I love Woodson enough as a writer that I’m happy to just dive into any of her books.

Outbox (Books Finished)

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera– Thanks to a tweet by Roxane Gay this book landed on my radar. I literally pushed aside the 4 books I was reading and read this one in a day. Juliet is a chubby, Puerto Rican, lesbian feminist who is only just figuring out what it means to be a lesbian and feminist—and more importantly that it’s different for everyone. This book has one of my favorite openings as Juliet writes a letter to a famous (in the book) feminist author. Any book/character that can equally make me laugh and pull on my dead-heart strings is a winner. *Builds time machine to add title to the list of recommended books for Emma Watson’s Book Club*

Faith #1 by Jody Houser, Francis Portela, Marguerite Sauvage– I still want to be Wonder Woman when I grow up so any leading female superhero that crosses my path has my attention. And right off the bat I liked Faith (her daytime identity) and Zephyr (her keeping-the-streets-safe-superhero persona who can fly). She didn’t just come into her powers, instead she left her ex and her superhero team which is an interesting place to start. And that to be continued ending has me needing more. I’m looking forward to this limited series after this strong start.

In the Queue (What I’m Reading Next)

Wages of Sin by Yolonda Tonette Sanders– I’m going to go ahead and say my childhood obsession of watching Murder She Wrote is why I’m always reading at least one mystery. I recently finished The Language of Secrets which was great and left me needing more in the detective series genre which is why next up is a book I’ve been looking forward to for a while: love the cover; detective series; serial killer; someone has a secret. Ringing all my bells.

Bitch Planet #6 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Taki Soma– I inhaled Bitch Planet Vol. 1 (the collected volume of issues #1-5). It was everything I wanted it to be, and more, and I now totally understand why everyone has been getting non-compliant tattoos. Even though I prefer to read TPB, because the single issues always feel like just a tease, I NEED MORE BITCH PLANET IN MY LIFE, RIGHT NOW. So yeah, I’ll be reading each issue from now on. (Sorry about the yelling, but it’s that good.)

Now I hate to leave you but someone’s gotta go read all my awesome books. What books have crossed your path lately?

A woman checked out a book called How to Win a Local Election. And she did. Listen to Annotated on Apple Podcasts or Google Play to hear her story.